Press release from the 36hp challenge mailing list
36hp and all VW Challengers
As of this month, the worlds first Volkswagen speed record holder, Dick Beith, has been recognized by "Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia", under the Bonneville Speedway search engine. Dick set the very first Volkswagen performance record in 1960 at a 77.107 mile per hour two way average speed (with a top one way speed of 80.874 mph) in his 1958 Bug during the SCTA/BNI Speedweek on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. In 1963 Dick returned to Bonneville with a Pepco supercharged 36hp based engine in a "Lakester" style race car designed around the belly tank of a World War 2 airplane and achieved a top speed of 129.68 miles per hour. This is still recognized by the Volkswagen world as the fastest speed ever achieved with a vehicle powered by the our favorite little vintage 36hp air cooled engine, and it is now also recognized by Wikipedia.
This fifty year old 36hp ultimate top speed record will be challenged in 2012 at the U.S.F.R.A.'s World of Speed at Bonneville next week by numerous VW racers including Tom Bruch in a new Gaylen Anderson/Tom Newport built Karmann Ghia coupe with support from Appletree Automotive in Mears, Michigan ( see http://www.appletreeauto.com/Race-for-the-record.html for their Race For The Record updates). And Dick is still competing with a new 40hp based Big Block Volkswagen engine, this year bringing the Eaton supercharged 1450cc powerplant in his highly modified 1968 Volkswagen Beetle, the Bugliner. For further information about Dicks early Volkswagen land speed racing efforts you can go to http://www.vdubber.com/video/gallery/Dick-Beith-1961 to view a 1961 Bonneville documentary interview.
To view Dicks listing on the Wikipedia site please visit the link below. He is in some mighty fine LSR company.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonneville_Speedway
The record graph as shown in Wikipedia is copied below:
| Year | Driver | Vehicle | Speed mph | Speed km/h | Class (category) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1935 | Sir Malcolm Campbell | Blue Bird | 301.129 | 484.620 | [data needed] | |
| 1947 | Don Waite | TheEdelbrockSpecial | 192 | 309 | [data needed] | |
| 1963 | Craig Breedlove | Spirit of America | 407.447 | 655.722 | [data needed] | |
| 1963 | Dick Beith | PepcoVW Type 1("Beetle") | 129.65 | 208.651 | ETS(K36/NA36) | All time 36hp speed record(as of April 2012) |
| 1964 | Art Arfons | The Green Monster | 434.022 | 664.694 | [data needed] | |
| 1965 | Craig Breedlove | Spirit of America- Sonic 1 | 600.601 | 966.574 | [data needed] | |
| 1969 | Burt Munro | IndianScout V-Twin | 183.59 | 295.44 | [data needed] | |
| 1970 | Gary Gabelich | Blue Flame | 622.407 | 1001.67 | [data needed] | |
| 2001 | DonVesco | Vesco Turbinator- Turbine Engine | 458.443 | 737.395 | [data needed] | |
| 2004 | R.Schroe | Buckeye Bullet- Electric Vehicle | 314.958 | 524.930 | [data needed] | |
| 2006 | Andy Green | JCB Dieselmax- DieselStreamliner | 350.092 | 563.418 | [data needed] |
Above and below - Dick Beiths Pepco supercharged 36hp powered "Lakester". Top speed of 129.65 mph. Photos by Burly Burlile
Dick Beiths 1968 Volkswagen Beetle based "Bugliner" at Bonneville in 2011. Photo by Burly Burlile
Dicks new 40hp based Big Block. Photo by Dick Beith
Congratulations to Dick on being recognized by Wikipedia for his Volkswagen racing efforts spanning over fifty years. Be sure to stop by the Bugliner pit's at this years World of Speed to meet the man whose five decade old record we are "still" chasing.
See you on the salt...........................
Burly